Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Quotes (1934-2012)

“The House of Saud had barely survived this double challenge to its legitimacy. To maintain their grip on power, they knew it was time to deliver on the deal they had struck with the clerics during the Juhayman crisis. When the minister of interior Prince Nayef was asked during a press conference in January 1980 whether the kingdom would now clamp down on men who appeared zealous because they sported a beard, for example, he scoffed. “If we did this most Saudis would be in prison by now,” he said. Even before the attack in Mecca, Prince Nayef had been amenable to the blind sheikh’s implorations on trivial matters. Bin Baz had complained about “violations of Islamic morality” in Riyadh, like foreign women eating in public, Christians wearing visible crosses, Western music being played in stores, and the apparently corrupting game of foosball, idolatrous because of the little statuettes. Directives were promptly sent to address Bin Baz’s complaints—but only in Riyadh and the province of Najd.”